ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY PRODUCTION

We use state-of-the-art production, measurement and control technologies to achieve a high level of sustainability. Besides the benefits for the environment, this allows us to offer high-quality print products at affordable prices.

But all technical equipment needs people who operate them. Our staff is at the heart of everything we do: from environmental protection to assuring top-quality printing and finishing results. To meet these standards, we employ trained specialists from the region, operate in-house production facilities, implement quality assurance and provide continuous employee training.

Prepress – platesetting

We use state-of-the-art production, measurement and control technologies to achieve a high level of sustainability. Besides the benefits for the environment, this allows us to offer high-quality print products at affordable prices.

But all technical equipment needs people who operate them. Our staff is at the heart of everything we do: from environmental protection to assuring top-quality printing and finishing results. To meet these standards, we employ trained specialists from the region, operate in-house production facilities, implement quality assurance and provide continuous employee training.

We generally produce our print orders using the so-called batch printing method. This means that we process several print orders involving the same paper type and paper weight together in combined-run production. In doing so, we make best use of printing plates and paper sheets, save resources and offer affordable prices to our customers.

Each print order in offset printing requires individual printing plates. Inside the printing press, they make sure that the four primary colors cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black) are applied to the sheet to ensure perfect print results. In contrast to conventional prepress, which requires the exposure of films and film montage prior to printing plate exposure in several processing steps, we do the exposure directly on the printing plate – and have done so for several years now. With digital prepress, this is referred to as "computer to plate" (CTP).

From an ecological point of view, this method represents a major advantage compared to the more complex "computer-to-film" method. By minimizing the number of work steps, less auxiliary material such as film, film chemicals and rinse water is needed and the greenhouse gas emissions usually generated in this context are reduced.

Indispensable materials such as rubber coating, rinse water and printing plate developers are reduced to a minimum by state-of-the-art technology from Agfa. Almost all waste products are recycled and delivered to our service providers with a continuously documented disposal list.

The aluminum printing plates we use are recycled at a rate of 99 percent and are reintroduced into the raw material cycle.

Printing & finishing

Depending on the type of printing machine, we print without adding alcohol whenever possible, or at least with reduced amounts of alcohol. By using special cleaning cloths, we are able to save up to 70 % on cleaning agents, reducing the contamination of cleaning agents to a minimum. Also, we use mostly ecological cleaning agents.

Central ink supply

The ink supply for our printing machines is based on 300 kg exchangeable metal tanks. This has the advantage that no small ink containers or ink cartridges are used and eliminates unnecessary plastic waste.

A 300 kg exchangeable tank of one primary color is equivalent to 150 cartridges of that color. This saves several thousand plastic ink cartridges in just one week. Another advantage of the 300 kg exchangeable tank is emptied completely leaving no ink residues in the container, and that it is reusable.

Waste paper

As is common practice with sheet offset printing, each project is printed with a so-called "startup sheet". These are essential to prepare all necessary machine settings to print the product in the desired quality. In order to keep the production of such waste paper as low as possible, we continuously monitor the machine quality. This is carried out at regular servicing intervals by a technician of the printing machine manufacturer.

We use the "Prinect Inpress Control" system that automatically checks the ink application on the sheet while the machine is running to further reduce the number of unusable printed sheets considerably.

Utilities and office

Why waste energy? In our search for energy saving potential, we came upon resources that already exist: we use heat exchangers to recover the waste heat of machinery, compressors and hot water pipes which allows us to heat an entire printing hall without additional energy.

The use of filter systems helps us optimize water conservation. Consumption-controlled compressors, fans and air shafts ensure an efficient use of energy.

Our company lives by the principle of putting waste prevention first. Because the best waste is waste that is never created in the first place. Unavoidable waste products are separated and reused or disposed of by material groups. We contribute to preserving the environment also on a small scale: by consistently recycling the ink and toner cartridges from our offices.